Book Review | The Wizard’s Bakery #booksky

The Wizard’s Bakery seems to be having a relaunch following early reviews. I got a pre-publication copy from Netgalley, and loved it. Well done to the publishers for addressing the other reviewers’ comments.

The Wizard’s Bakery

by Gu Byeong-Mo, translation by Jamie Chang

Open twenty-four hours a day in a quiet Seoul neighbourhood, The Wizard’s Bakery seems like any other where you can buy bread, cakes, and pastries, with a somewhat grumpy man behind the counter.

For a desperate runaway teen, it’s a refuge from a fractured home – until he discovers the pastries hold magic: madeleines to fix broken hearts, almond bars to unearth memories buried deep within and cinnamon cookies for your worst enemies.

But each of these items come with a warning: the power contained in the treats inevitably alters the order of the world and can produce dramatic consequences for those who consume them, consequences that need to be weighed carefully.

Under the stern eye of the bakery’s gruff wizard and his mysterious blue-haired assistant, the boy learns about the responsibility that comes with working in a bakery where every bite comes with a price. (Netgalley)

(link to Goodreads audiobook listing)

My review

The Wizard’s Bakery is a surprisingly dark story, despite dealing with a magical baker’s store, and a teen with a very troubled background. I guess at one time they were marketing it as YA (it’s now classed as General fiction-adult, and fantasy) because the protagonist is about fifteen. He has lots of problems, including a chronic stutter, memories of abandonment, and a dysfunctional father. After trying, and failing to please both parent and step-parent, he finds sanctuary at the 24 hour bakery.

I’m beginning to get a feel for Korean fiction. It seems to have Scandi-noir darkness, but mystical almost mythical qualities. My experiences with it have encountered dark corners, tunnels to other places entirely, and ambiguously happy endings—or are they?

The initial part of this book clunks a little with very formal sentence construction, but it eases up and becomes very readable. The characters jump off the page, and I found myself second-guessing the plot that eventually twists right at the end. The route there is warmly satisfying, with nightmarish episodes. But I enjoyed this, so dark fantasy, not horror.

And I love the alternative endings presented. So right, given what has gone before. That was the icing on the cake, so I gave it five stars.